Originally posted on 10/28/2015:

I'm hearing a lot of "Mets are a lock tonight"
"deGrom is automatic in game 2 against KC"
"Mets are free money tonight"
etc. etc. etc. etc.

I'm on KC to win game two tonight, and if you're on the New York Mets tonight already I'm not trying to get you off your bet, I'm just going to explain why I'm on KC.

a) No such thing as a lock.
b) deGrom is NOT automatic tonight.
c) No such thing as a iock.

If there was such a thing as automatic and free money and all the rest of the terms some use when thinking an outcome of a sporting event is such an easy thing, riddle me this?
Why is the reduced line at 5D +108/-118 ?
That's damn near close to a pick 'em.

- Jacob deGrom
Brooks baseball shows deGrom features his 4 seam fastball 45.27 percent of the time, and it's average velocity is 95.29 percent of the time.

http://www.brooksbaseball.net/tabs.p.../2015&s_type=2

What's that mean?
It means deGrom pretty much throws a 95 mph fastball 1 out of every two pitches.
And it's a good one too.
And he's had a successful start to his career with this pitch.

Here's the problem, KC is now batting .307 against fastball pitchers that throw 95 mph +
I've explained this many times before, I will explain it again, than I am not explaining any more until next year.

Mets front three starters have been feasting all post season off of opposing team lineups that have high swing and miss rates. Cubs and Dodgers.

Royals don't swing and miss, and they don't walk either.
I explained last night that the Royal batters expose bad defenses with their pressure style put the ball in play and let's see what happens offense.
What happened last night?
First inning, first batter Escobar puts the ball in play, and what happened?
14th inning, Escobar hits one of those 'put the ball in play and see what happens" ball in play, and see what happened?
Wright throws the ball away and you could have turned your TV off right there.

Once again, I am not saying deGrom is horseshit, he is not, he's a top ten MLB starter, however one can not expect a 12 K strikeout effort tonight against one of the best contact offenese you'll probably ever see, against a KC lineup that has been collecting paychecks all year off of pitchers that throw 95 mph heat.

The Mets are not the 1984 Tigers when pitchers like Milt Wilcox and Dan Petry and Juan Berenger slept walk to a 1984 title, a big reason why they won was they had Hall of Famer gloves like Lou Whitaker and Chet Lemon and Alan Trammell and Parrish behind them.

With all due respect, Wright and Murphy and Flores and Cespedes is a dime to that Tiger defense's dollar.
That Mets defense will be their downfall, it was in game 1, and I don't trust them in game 2 either.

deGrom is capable of shuttng down kC bats 1-2-3 in many innings, he had better be in shutdown mode tonight, or else he and the Mets are in for another real long night.

Both bullpens are pretty much not available tonight, can deGrom go eight innings?
He hasn't gone into the eight inning in almost 2 months.
If deGrom and his fancy 4 seam fastball is getting hammered in the fourth, Collins may have to leave him in there.

Let's talk about Johnny Cueto.
It's true he's been pedestrian like since coming over the KC, bear in mind, most of those starts KC was in preservation mode, regulars were being rested, KC was 12 1/2 games up on Minny and were playing not to get hurt, be healthy and rested for October.

Cueto is not horseshit, and if one thinks so one doesn't watch baseball and has no idea what he is talking about.
Cueto is one year removed from a Cy Young runner up season when he went 20 and 9 with a not very good Reds team.

Cueto is the more experienced of the two starters, his four seamer is almost, not quite, but almost as effective as deGrom's. Besides Murphy and Grandy, which Mets hitters strike fear into Cueto? And did you really expect Murphy to keep hitting homeruns day in and day out.
There were cries for Cespedes for MVP 8 weeks ago, does he look like MVP right now.
When he's not kicking balls in the outfield for homeruns, he's strking out 2 times a game or so it seems.
He's what? Like .250 with a walk and 14 K's, 13 K's, something like that this October?
Right now Wright is not scaring anybody with his bat, Cespedes looks lost at the plate this postseason, Flores ain't Escobar, I like Duda, and qute frankly scares me, however he and d'Arnaud having been launching missiles as of late.

Mets dugout, as constructed now is 31 for 135 lifetime vs Cueto, that's a big sample size and that's .230
I don't want to get into yet another battle with those who think BvP splits are meaningless, I'm not going to change your mind, I think BvP splits are not to be overlooked, they are an ancilary statistic that support a handicapper reasoning as to why he makes a selection.
BvP is not a be all end all stat, however it must not be overlooked in the sample size is over 100 AB's.

I like KC for the following reasons
KC puts the ball in play and NY has a tendency to make errors.
deGrom is a stud yes, but Cueto is more than capable of matching him.
KC is at home.
KC has the superior lineup, KC has the superior team speed.
KC has more experience in games like this, Cueto can go deeper in a game then deGrom can.

Anybody who thinks Cueto is horseshit needs to look back 12 or so days ago when he made that Houston crawl into a fetal position and cry.

Can deGrom win this?
Yes? Will he? I don't think so